If only the end of contract talks meant nothing more than the likely departure of Champ Bailey from the Broncos.

The more ominous sign from the negotiation shutdown is that Bailey won’t have a league in which to play in 2011.

The 11th-hour decision to yank Bailey from his future was not made by Broncos coach Josh McDaniels or general manager Brian Xanders.

This decision came from above. According to NFL sources close to these negotiations, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and chief operating officer Joe Ellis made the call Tuesday to suspend talks until after the season.

Xanders was deep into negotiations with Bailey’s agent Jack Reale on a four- year extension that would have averaged more than $10 million a season, but less than the $13 million salary the cornerback is making this year.

Negotiations were “85 percent done,” a source said, when the Broncos decided to stop talking. Apparently, Bowlen and Ellis believe the league’s possible shutdown is real enough to scuttle a contract that would allocate a guaranteed expenditure against revenue uncertainty.

“I’ve been saying this for a while, that all signs point to a lockout,” said Brian Dawkins, one of the most prominent leaders within the players’ union. “There’s just been too many signs. I tell everyone: Expect the worst, hope for the best.”

Beware, local sports pubs. An NFL lockout is not just rhetoric. The belief that a business generating an estimated $8.8 billion in annual revenues has too much to lose through a work stoppage ignores the fact that owners and players are diametrically opposed on too many issues.

“Any game missed would have a huge impact on us,” said Dave Keefe, owner of Brooklyn’s at both Invesco Field and the Pepsi Center. “We wait all year for those 10 games. You would assume they would learn from what happened to the NHL.”

The NFL learned from the NHL, all right. NFL owners have hired Bob “Lockout” Batterman to head their labor negotiations. Batterman represented NHL owners during the labor war of 2004-05.

You know, the hockey season that was canceled because of a lockout.

And now here comes — gulp! — Lockout Batterman to the NFL proceedings. Still think the NFL will be playing next September?

Only if this labor dispute reaches the courts will this get settled. That’s how Major League Baseball finally returned to the field after the work stoppage of 1994-95.

Unfortunately for the NFL players, Judge Sonia Sotomayor has since been promoted to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“You read about how in the NFL people aren’t going to the games as much because we all have HDTVs now,” Keefe said. “I know there’s a lot more tickets available this year than there has been in the past; let’s put it that way. A work stoppage would give people reason not to go. That’s what happened with the NHL. I don’t think the Avalanche has ever recovered from that.”

By cutting off Bailey, Bowlen and Ellis have communicated similar concerns.

Bowlen and Ellis are on the business side of football. McDaniels and Xanders are football men first, second and third. They know it’s easier to win with a nine-time Pro Bowler anchoring the left side of their defense.

“We want Champ Bailey to be here. We want him to finish his career here. There’s no question about it,” McDaniels said.

The only way McDaniels gets his wish is with the franchise tag, providing the new collective bargaining agreement still carries such an option. Otherwise, Bailey is likely playing his final season in Denver.

There has been CBA uncertainty for nearly a year, and the Broncos found a way to work out extensions with Elvis Dumervil, Chris Kuper and Kyle Orton, who as restricted free agents had little leverage.

Nothing against those players. But it’s not often a guy named Champ ranks fourth on anyone’s priority list.

The Broncos’ business approach during this season of labor uncertainty has been counter to that of the New England Patriots. The Patriots gave a contract extension to their best player, Tom Brady, in his season before unrestricted free agency, while refusing to deal with restricted free-agent guard Logan Mankins.

Either way, football can be an ugly business. Here’s hoping for guys like Bailey and Mankins, and local bar owners like Keefe, it doesn’t get any uglier.

EYE ON . . .

Randy Moss, WR, Vikings

What’s up: Two days after Moss had a heated halftime argument with QB coach Bill O’Brien during the New England Patriots’ game Monday night at Miami, the receiver was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, his original team, for a third-round draft pick.

Background: Moss had six of his top nine seasons with the Vikings from 1998-2003, with the other three stellar seasons coming with New England from 2007-09. But Moss eventually becomes a malcontent at every stop, which is why he has been traded three times.

Klis’ take: Why is it only quarterbacks are supposedly required to win a Super Bowl before their greatness is stamped? It seems impact receivers like Moss and Terrell Owens should be held to the same standard. It will be interesting to see how Moss and Owens fare as Hall of Fame candidates. They deserve it based on productivity. But I believe they should be docked based on the many times they’ve become disruptions to the cause of winning it all. Moss and T.O. have both reached the Super Bowl. Neither has a ring.

SPOTLIGHT ON

Bring in the humidor!

Maybe it’s the altitude. In the past four seasons, the Broncos have allowed six kickoff and punt return TDs on the road, and two at home. Throw out 2008, and it’s six road TDs to zero at home. One possible explanation is the Broncos have covered a whopping 34 more kickoffs on the road since 2007 than at home, where altitude has helped Todd Sauerbrun and Matt Prater kick touchbacks.

HOME ROAD

Year PR TD KR TD PR TD KR TD

2007 14 0 29 0 17 2 33 1

2008 14 1 27 1 14 0 36 0

2009 17 0 18 0 19 1 31 1

2010 4 0 2 0 4 0 10 1

Totals 49 1 76 1 54 3 110 3

ON THE HOT SEAT

Quarterbacks, young and old

Who: Bears QB Todd Collins; Panthers QB Jimmy Clausen

When: Today at Carolina’s Bank of America Stadium, where the Chicago Bears meet the Carolina Panthers.

Why: Collins, who turns 39 next month, is the NFL’s second-oldest QB (to Brett Favre, who turns 41 today). He is getting only his 21st NFL start — fourth since 1997 — in place of the concussed Jay Cutler. Clausen, who turned 23 last month, is the NFL’s fifth-youngest QB (Matthew Stafford, Josh Freeman and Sam Bradford all are 22). He is getting his third NFL start in three weeks.

THREE UP

1. Rams: Steve Spagnuolo’s defense allowing 13.0 points a game.

2. Steelers: Sure, they lost their first game against Baltimore last week, but Big Ben is back.

3. Lions: It’s all relative. They’re 0-4 but losing by an average of six points. In 2008, they lost by an average of 20.3 points in an 0-4 start.

Mike Klis was with The Denver Post from Jan. 1, 1998 before leaving in 2015 to join KUSA 9News. He covered the Rockies and Major League Baseball until the 2005 All-Star break, when he was asked to start covering the Broncos.

Four assistant basketball coaches at Division I schools and a top Adidas executive were among 10 people charged Tuesday with crimes including bribery and fraud as part of a wide-ranging federal investigation into corruption in college basketball.

CenturyLink, the telecommunications company that ended its sponsorship agreement with Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall because of his protests during the national anthem last year, said it will not terminate its agreement with current client Emmanuel Sanders.